The internal combustion engine is an engine where the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine, typically a piston. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into useful mechanical energy.
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a variable-stroke reciprocating internal combustion engine, the engine having an engine shaft and a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder chamber having an axis, each piston having a first piston part operable to move in unison with or separately from a second piston part to define piston strokes for different thermal functions of the engine, the engine including an assembly pivotally coupled to the first piston part at a copy point and an actuator coupled to the assembly, wherein the actuator is operable to control motion of the assembly to thereby define substantially linear movement of the copy point along the cylinder chamber axis.
In other aspects, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method of operating a variable-stroke reciprocating internal combustion engine, the engine having an engine shaft and a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder chamber having an axis, each piston having a first piston part operable to move in unison with and separately from a second piston part to define piston strokes for different functions of the engine, the method including providing an assembly pivotally coupled to the first piston part at a copy point, and an actuator coupled to the assembly and operating the actuator to control motion of the assembly and thereby define substantially linear movement of the copy point along the cylinder chamber axis.